Man charged with attacking guards at Bridgewater Commons

Police say the suspect walked out of Macy’s with a dozen shirts valued at $1,051. Police said he also damaged three other shirts with a total value of $255.

A Passaic County man was charged Wednesday with assaulting three security guards at Macy’s in the Bridgewater Commons as they tried detain him for shoplifting.
(Photo: Michael Schwartz, The Courier-News Copyright 2002)

BRIDGEWATER – A Passaic County man has been charged with robbery after he became involved in a struggle with three security guards who were trying to detain him for shoplifting a dozen shirts from the Macy’s at Bridgewater Commons.

Christian Porcaro, 40, of Haledon, is in Somerset County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail after he was arrested by township police following the 3:30 p.m. incident Wednesday.

One of the security guards suffered a cut to the head that required 23 stitches to close, according to an affidavit filed in Superior Court in Somerville.

Another male guard got a few scrapes during the struggle on the sidewalk outside the store and a female guard was struck in the jaw, the affidavit said.

The incident began when the female guard saw Porcaro go into a dressing room with a shopping bag and several Ralph Lauren shirts, according to the affidavit.

When she saw him leave the dressing room with only some of the merchandise, she alerted two other guards who saw Porcaro enter another dressing room with merchandise. When he left without the merchandise in his hands, the guards checked the dressing room and found only security tags, authorities said.

The three guards followed Porcaro out of the store and detained him on the sidewalk. Porcaro and the three guards then walked back into the store, but Porcaro then turned and tried to run out of the store, authorities said.

The guards caught up with Porcaro on the sidewalk where the struggle ensued, the affidavit said.

Police say that Porcaro left Macy’s with a dozen shirts valued at $1,051. Police said he also damaged three other shirts with a total value of $255.

Porcaro has a lengthy record and is currently attending Drug Court in Passaic County. Besides having a previous shoplifting conviction in Somerset County, Porcaro has drug and theft convictions in Bergen, Camden, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic and Union counties.